The goal of the pro-life movement is twofold. It strives to restore legal protection to the unborn child while simultaneously changing the minds and hearts of people all over the world to realize that this “choice” is a great injustice that hurts women, kills children and damages all society. As a student at Carleton University and president of Carleton Lifeline, the pro-life club on campus, I can confidently state that I along with hundreds of passionate activists across Canada, desire to achieve this goal, but it is no task for the weak. This feeling was reinforced a hundred fold at the National Campus Life Network Symposium held in September.

As campus leaders came together for this conference to listen to inspirational speakers from all over the country, two major themes became obvious: to change the world in any capacity one must have a spirit of defiance and a loving, compassionate heart. Without these characteristics, it is virtually impossible to gain any ground.

Having a spirit of defiance could easily be perceived as a negative quality as often defiance is seen as a term that describes a rebellious or rude person. In actuality, to be defiant or to defy something means “boldly challenging”. This doesn’t not mean that we must be violent or aggressive. No, ours is a peaceful movement. To have a spirit of defiance simply means that we must challenge what is perceived to be a social norm. In the case of abortion, this means that one must hold to the unchangeable truth of the injustice being presented. We must never feel as though we must change because we are being opposed. This temptation to change is evident in so many ways. Two years ago, we experienced a great amount of opposition to our club and ever since, we have toed the line in very small ways. We stopped using pictures of aborted foetuses on campus. As a result of the symposium, we have decided to return to the use of these images to reveal the truth of abortion to other students at the university and will continue to do so as long as unborn children are unsafe.

Throughout history, generations have risen time and time again to defy oppression and injustice. From Ghandi’s peaceful defiance against British rule, Martin Luther King’s passionate outcry for equality among all races, suffragettes seeking the right to vote for women, right down to the students across North America who are fighting to maintain the pro-life presence on campus, we see that it is possible to defy what seems to be impossible.The question that remains is, is it worth the risk? And if it is worth the risk, then what are we doing about it now, tomorrow and until the injustice is gone and the truth exposed? Abortion is the greatest injustice in the world. There is no other genocide that can claim to have taken the lives of millions of people every year worldwide.

Along with having a spirit of defiance, we must always carry within us a heart filled with compassion and love for those who are involved with the pro-choice movement in any capacity. However, most importantly, we need to love women who feel as though they do not have any other choice than abortion. Without love, nothing is accomplished. To forget this, is to lose everything that every social activist has gained through the years. Mother Teresa once said, “There is a terrible hunger for love. We all experience that in our lives - the pain, the loneliness. we must have the courage to recognize it. Find them. Love them.” This statement reveals the core of the pro-life movement. The world need to know that abortion hurts women, degrades them and is a result of a lie, a lie that says that abortion is good for women. It is because women feel alone, helpless and uncared for by society that they have abortions. It is not because society cares for them. It is extremely important to remember that abortion is not just a clinical term or topic of controversy. In the same way, the pro-life movement is not just a faceless entity. Abortion in its very essence speaks to the humanity of the world. When we speak of abortion, we speak of mothers, fathers, babies, families, siblings. In one word, people.

There is a new generation of young leaders coming forward who have committed to having a spirit of defiance but with hearts radiating with love and compassion. These fundamental aspects of the pro-life movement are what motivate young people to rise up and claim the movement as their own. The movement is ours and it is our responsibility to act. We claim this mission as our own.

… to change the world in any capacity one must have a spirit of defiance and a loving, compassionate heart. Without these characteristics, it is virtually impossible to gain any ground.